Patent Application
20210314727
The present invention relates to a social distancing device system, and more particularly, to a social distancing device system for detecting the social distance and calculating the exposure risk for infectious diseases.
Infectious diseases are medically proven and caused by the presence or activity of pathogenic microorganisms, and harm the infected person or damage the physiological functions of humans or other species. Infectious diseases are communicable diseases that can be transmitted from one person or other species to another through various means. Moreover, the infection diseases spreading through air or through droplets, such as the measle, the pertussis, the pulmonary tuberculosis, H5N1, H7N9, H1N1, MERS-CoV, or COVID-19, would spread rapidly. These infections are mostly caused by the mouth, the nasal mucosa or the respiratory duct contacting the infected substances.
Because the infectious diseases spreading by air or droplets have a certain spreading distance, the social distancing or physical distancing is a non-pharmaceutical infection control action intended to avoid the direct contact of the infected substance and stop or slow down the spread of a infectious disease. For example, one should keep a certain distance (typically 3 feet or 1 meter) from the others, or be socially isolated to reduce the infectivity.
In general, some infectious diseases have an incubation period. The infected person may not have disease symptoms or discomfort during the incubation period, so that the infected person may still participate in social activities and do not maintain a certain distance from others. However, infectious diseases in infected person still have the infectivity during the incubation period. For other people who have been contacted with the infected person, they may be infected as well and contact with more others because it is not easy to know that the infected person has been infected during the incubation period. Therefore, when an infected person during the incubation period frequently joins in social activities, it is difficult to track other people who have been in contact with the infected person and to control the spread of infectious diseases.
Thus, it is necessary to develop a new social distancing device that can maintain an appropriate social distance and manage the users at risk of infection to solve the problems of the prior art.
Therefore, one of categories of the present invention is to provide a social distancing device system including a first social distancing device and a computing device. The first distancing device includes a distance detecting module, a processor and a transmission module. The distance detecting module is configured to detect a distance between the first social distancing device and a second social distancing device. The processor is coupled to the distance detecting module and configured to record a time information and a duration when the first social distancing device communicates with the second social distancing device. The transmission module is coupled to the processor and controlled by the processor to transmit a signal including the distance, the time information and the duration. The computing device is configured to receive the distance, the time information and the duration from the transmission module and includes a database and a computing module. The database is configured to store the distance, the time information and the duration. The computing module is coupled to the database to calculate an exposure risk of the first social distancing device according to the distance, the time information and the duration.
Wherein, the distance detecting module includes at least one wireless signal transceiver for communicating with the distance detecting module in the second social distancing device and detecting the distance by signal strength.
Furthermore, the at least one wireless signal transceiver is one selected from Wi-Fi transceiver, Bluetooth transceiver, NFC transceiver and UWB transceiver.
Wherein, the distance detecting module is a GPS module for detecting the distance between the first social distancing device and the second social distancing device by GPS locating.
Wherein, the first social distancing device further includes an alarm module to generate a first alarm signal when the distance detected by the distance detecting module is less than a predetermined distance.
Furthermore, the predetermined distance is six feet.
Wherein, the computing device sends a second alarm signal to the first social distancing device according to the exposure risk calculated by the computing processor.
Wherein, the database is configured to store a data of the user of the second social distancing device. The computing module calculates the exposure risk according to the distance, the time information, the duration and the data of the user of the second social distancing device.
Furthermore, the computing device further includes a learning module coupled to the database and the computing module. The learning module generates an exposure risk model according to the distance, the time information, the duration and the data stored in the database by machine learning. The computing module analyzes the distance, the time information, the duration and the data by the exposure risk model to generate the exposure risk.
Another one of categories of the present invention is to provide a social distancing device including a first distance detecting module, a second distance detecting module, a processor and a transmission module. The first distance detecting module is configured to communicate with another social distancing device in an area with a radius. The second distance detecting device is configured to detect a distance between the social distancing device and the another social distancing device. The processor is coupled to the first distance detecting module and the second distance detecting module and configured to record a time information and a duration when the first social distancing device communicates with the another social distancing device. The transmission module is coupled to the processor and controlled by the processor to transmit a signal of the distance, the time information and the duration to a server. Wherein, the processor controls the second detecting module to detect the distance after the first distance detecting communicates with the another social distancing device.
Wherein, the second distance detecting module is configured to send and receive a data packet. The second distance detecting module sends the data packet to the another social distancing device and receives the data packet calculated by the another social distancing device to detect the distance.
Wherein, the social distancing device further includes an alarm module to generate a first alarm signal when the distance detected by the another distance detecting module is less than a predetermined distance.
Another one of categories of the present invention is to provide a social distancing method including the following steps of: a first social distancing device communicating with a second social distancing device; the first social distancing device detecting a distance between itself and the second social distancing device, and recording a time information and a duration; the first social distancing device sending the distance, the time information and a duration to a computing device; and the computing device calculating an exposure risk of the first social distancing device according to the distance, the time information and a duration.
Wherein, the step of the first social distancing device communicating with the second social distancing device further includes the following steps of: the first social distancing device searching another social distancing device in an area with a radius; and the first social distancing device communicating with the second social distancing device when the second social distancing device is located in the area.
Wherein, the method further includes the following step of: the first social distancing device generating a first alarm signal when the distance is less than a predetermined distance.
Wherein, the step of the computing device calculating an exposure risk of the first social distancing device according to the distance, the time information and a duration further includes the following step of: the computing device calculating the exposure risk of the first social distancing device according to the distance, the time information, the duration and a data of the user of the second social distancing device stored in a database.
Wherein, the step of the computing device calculating an exposure risk of the first social distancing device according to the distance, the time information and the duration further includes the following steps of: generating an exposure risk model according to the distance, the time information, the duration and a data stored of the user of the second social distancing device stored in a database by machine learning; and the computing module analyzing the distance, the time information, the duration and the data by the exposure risk model to generate the exposure risk.
Wherein, the method further includes the following step of: the computing device sending a second alarm signal according to the exposure risk.
Wherein, the step of the first social distancing device detecting a distance between itself and the second social distancing device, and recording a time information and a duration further includes the following step of: the first social distancing device sending a data packet to the second social distancing device and receives the data packet calculated by the second social distancing device to detect the distance, and recording the time information and the duration.
In summary, the social distancing device system can remind the user to maintain the social distance by the alarm module of the social distancing device, and calculate the exposure risk of the user according to the data sent by the social distancing device, thereby increasing the efficiency and reducing the infectivity. Moreover, the social distancing device system can calculate the exposure risk immediately and precisely by the learning module, thereby increasing the efficiency. In addition, the social distancing device system can switch the distance detecting modules to save the power and detect the distance precisely, thereby increasing the deficiency and reducing the cost.
A detailed description of the hereinafter described embodiments of the disclosed apparatus and method are presented herein by way of exemplification and not limitation with reference to the Figures. Although certain embodiments are shown and described in detail, it should be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims. The scope of the present invention will in no way be limited to the number of constituting components, the materials thereof, the shapes thereof, the relative arrangement thereof, etc., and are disclosed simply as an example of embodiments of the present invention.
Please refer to
In practice, the social distancing device 11 can be an independent device or a portable device with an application program installed therein. For example, the portable device can be a smart cell phone, a smart watch, a smart ring, or any other wearable smart product. The application program is capable of controlling the portable device to execute the same functions of the social distancing device above-mentioned. The computing device 12 can be a server, computer or mobile devices. The processor 112 can be a CPU, and the transmission module 113 can be a signal transceiver. The time information can be a date or timestamp, and duration is a time length of the communication between the social distancing devices. When the user wears the social distancing device 11, the distance detecting module 111 of the social distancing device 11 can detect the distance between the user and another user who wears or uses another social distancing device. When the user communicates with another user, the transmission module 113 can transmit the distance detected by the distance detecting module 111 and the time information and the duration record by the process 112 to the computing device 12. The functions of the database 121 and the computing module 122 will be described later.
In this embodiment, the distance detecting module 111 of the first social distancing device 11A comprises a wireless signal transceiver for communicating with the distance detecting module 111 of the second social distancing device 11B and detecting the distance. In practice, the distance detecting module 111 can be a Wi-Fi transceiver, Bluetooth transceiver, NFC transceiver or UWB transceiver, and the distance detecting module 111 can detect the distance by signal strength. In practice, when the first social distancing device 11A communicates with the second social distancing device 11B, the distance detecting module 111 of the second social distancing device 11B can send a signal to the first social distancing device 11A, and the distance detecting module 111 of the first social distancing device 11A can calculate the distance according to the attenuation of the signal strength sent by the distance detecting module 111 of the second social distancing device 11B.
In one embodiment, the distance detecting module 111 can be a GPS module. In practice, the distance detecting module 111 of the first social distancing device 11A records a first GPS coordinate of the first social distancing device 11A, and the distance detecting module 111 of the second social distancing device 11B records a second GPS coordinate of the second social distancing device 11B. The second social distancing device 11B sends the second GPS coordinate to the first social distancing device 11A, and then the distance detecting module 111 of the first social distancing device 11A calculates the distance according to the first GPS coordinate and second GPS coordinate. In another one embodiment, the distance detecting module 111 can be a Real-Time Location System (RTLS).
Please refer to
In practice, the first distance detecting module 1111 can be Bluetooth transceiver and the second distance detecting module 1112 can be UWB transceiver. The radius R can be pre-set in the first distance detecting module 1111. As shown in
Furthermore, the second distance detecting module 1112 of the first social distancing device 11A sends a data packet to the second social distancing device 11B. In practice, the data packet can be a time data, such as sending time and receiving time. After the first social distancing device 11A communicates with the second social distancing device 11B, the second distance detecting module 1112 of the first social distancing device 11A sends a data packet to the second social distancing device 11B and receives the data packet calculated by the second distance detecting module 1112 of the second social distancing device 11B to detect the distance. In one embodiment, the second distance detecting module 1112 of the first social distancing device 11A sends a data packet to the second social distancing device 11B and receives the response of the data packet sent by the second distance detecting module 1112 of the second social distancing device 11B. Then, the second distance detecting module 1112 of the first social distancing device 11A calculates the distance according to the time difference of sending and receiving the data packet.
Moreover, the first distance detecting module 1111 and the second distance detecting module 1112 can be controlled by the processor 112. The second distance detecting module 1112 can send the data packet in certain period such as once per two seconds to update the distance. Because the Bluetooth transceiver is good at proximity sensing but poor for detecting distance, and the UWB transceiver is good at detecting distance, the social distancing device system can switch the Bluetooth transceiver and UWB transceiver to save the power and detect the distance precisely, thereby increasing the deficiency and reducing the cost. In one embodiment, the first distance detecting module 1111 and the second distance detecting module 1112 can be integrated in a signal transmitting chip.
Please refer to
In this embodiment, the computing device 12 is configured to receive the distance, the time information and the duration sent by the transmission module 113. The database 121 is configured to store the distance, the time information and the duration. The computing module 122 is coupled to the database 121 to calculate an exposure risk of the first social distancing device according to the distance, the time information and the duration. In practice, the database 121 can store all of the distances, time information and duration of the social distancing devices. The distance, the time information and duration are the risk factors of the exposure risk. The computing module 122 can calculate the exposure risk of each of social distancing devices respectively according to the data stored in the database 121. In one embodiment, the exposure risk can be calculated by the addition of cumulative risk scores of all risk factors. Furthermore, the computing module 122 can be pre-stored a risk threshold value. When exposure risk is greater than the risk threshold, the computing module 122 sends an alarm signal to social distancing device 11.
In this embodiment, the risk score is increased when the distance between the users is shorter. As shown in
In addition, the database 121 can update and store a personal data of the user from other server (such as medical database of government). The personal data can be basic information (such as age, gender) or medical information (such as physical condition, disease history) of the user. Similarly, the data of the user also can be the risk factor. In practice, if the user is an elder with poor body resistance, the infection rate of the user is increased, that is to say, the risk score is increased. Furthermore, when the database 121 updates the data of the user and data includes the user infected information, then the computing module 122 sends the alarm signal to the social distancing device which communicating with social distancing device of the infected user. Furthermore, when incubation period of the disease which the user infected is five days, the computing module 122 sends the alarm signal to the social distancing device according to the time information.
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In one embodiment, the social distancing device further includes a rechargeable battery (not shown in figure). The rechargeable battery is configured to provide power to the social distancing device and can coupled to the processor. When the social distancing device is recharging, the processor controls the transmission module to send the data to the computing device 12.
The social distancing device system of the present invention can apply to various places, such as office, school, hospital and so on. When the social distancing device system applies to the office, one of the social distancing devices can be set at the meeting room, and all of employees wear others social distancing devices respectively. The predetermined distance can be pre-set according to the size of the meeting room. Therefore, the administrator can confirm the number of employees in the meeting room and check the employees who in the meeting room by the mounted social distancing device. If the employee who had been to the meeting room is infected, the administrator can quickly and easily to remind the other employees.
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In summary, the social distancing device system can remind the user to maintain the social distance by the alarm module of the social distancing device, and calculate the exposure risk of the user according to the data sent by the social distancing device, thereby increasing the efficiency and reducing the infectivity. Moreover, the social distancing device system can calculate the exposure risk immediately and precisely by the learning module, thereby increasing the efficiency. In addition, the social distancing device system can switch the distance detecting modules to save the power and detect the distance precisely, thereby increasing the deficiency and reducing the cost.
With the examples and explanations mentioned above, the features and spirits of the invention are hopefully well described. More importantly, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described herein. Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63003467 | Apr 2020 | US |
